Apricot and Prosciutto Thin-Crust Pizza

I hereby declare this the week of the apricot.

Moving from sweet to savory, this pizza (or, as Taylor likes to call it, flatbread with topping – to him, anything without a serious sauce is not considered a pizza), beautifully pairs sweet apricots and salty prosciutto on a thin and crispy crust. We made a few changes to the recipe, substituting swiss chard for arugula (it’s what we had on hand), and now that I re-read the recipe realized we forgot the chives and parsley entirely, oops. Regardless, it was still a tasty and summery take on a typically heavy food.

To be honest this was one of the first things I thought of while stuffing apricots into my suitcase. It’s a recipe I’ve wanted to make for some time now. You know, since the recipe showed up in early spring, when apricots are clearly out of season. Silly magazines.

Directions:

Combine 1/2 cup warm water and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook attached; let stand 5 minutes or until bubbly. Add 4 teaspoons oil and 1/4 teaspoon salt to yeast mixture. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Sprinkle flour over yeast mixture; mix 2 minutes or until a soft dough forms. Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray; cover surface of dough with plastic wrap lightly coated with cooking spray. Refrigerate 24 hours.

Remove dough from refrigerator. Let stand, covered, 1 hour or until dough comes to room temperature. Punch dough down. Roll dough out to a thin 12-inch circle on a lightly floured baking sheet, without raised edges, sprinkled with cornmeal. Crimp edges to form a 1/2-inch border. Pierce dough several times with a fork. Cover dough loosely with plastic wrap.

Position an oven rack in the lowest setting. Place a pizza stone on lowest rack. Preheat oven to 550°. Preheat the pizza stone for 30 minutes before baking dough.